10. A trip to Rajasthan - the land of blood and valour

Rajasthan has the unique distinction of being the only desert state of India. However it has so many other things to see that we could not actually reach the desert and see the sands and Havelis of Jaisalmer. 
After independence, the Rajput princely states of Marwar (Jodhpur), Bikaner, Mewar (Udaipur), Alwar and Dhundar (Jaipur), the Jat states of Bharatpur and Dholpur and the Muslim state of Tonk  were joined together to form the Indian state of Rajasthan, the ‘Land of the Kings’. 

As usual we started early morning from Gurgaon for Jaipur, via Daruhera , Behror and Shahpura  on National Highway (NH 8), a distance of 220 kms. 

Jaipur

Jaipur, famously known as the pink city, was established by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727 (18 Nov. 1727) hence the name. Jaisingh was the ruler of Amber at the time but the pressure of population and the scarcity of water made him shift his capital to a new city. The king appointed Vidyadhar Bhattacharya an accounts-clerk in the Amber treasury as his Chief Architect and under his guidance the new city plans were drawn based on the principles of Shilpa and Vastu Shastras. The city is in the form of an eight part ‘Mandala’ known as ‘Pithapada’. A fortification wall was built all around the city with seven strong gates called Pol.

One of the seven gates or 'Pol' of Sawai Jaisingh's Jaipur

Jaipur got its pink avatar only in 1876 when Sawai Ram Singh had the whole city painted pink to welcome Edward, Prince of Wales. The city was divided into nine blocks, two of which contain the state buildings. 

Pink City

 

There were so many things to see we decided to take a city tour with the RTDC.

Jaipur is a city of forts and palaces. There are three forts – Amber Fort, Jaigarh Fort and Nahargarh Fort and a number of palaces.

Amber Fort which was the residence of the royal family before the shift of capital to Jaipur in 1727 is definitely a treasure. The royal entrance, called the ‘Suraj Pol’ is in the eastern side facing the sun, as the Amber Maharajas are Kachawas Rajputs who are said to be ‘Suryavanshi’ ie. descended from the sun.

Suraj Pol for the 'Suryavanshi' Maharaja to go through

 

The elephant station, where elephants are still kept to give tourists joy rides.

The roof in one of the two 'Sheesh Mahal', chamber of mirrors, in Amber. It is said that a single  candle can light up the whole room.

The magical sculpture! Parts can be variously seen as an elephant, fish, cobra etc. See if you can identify them.

Jaigarh

 Jaigarh fort was built to defend Amber, which was actually the palace. Jaigarh also housed the treasury of the Kachawas which was defended by the Meena tribesmen. The fort is well preserved except for the damage done by the raids during Indira Gandhi's 'emergency' period, in the hope of recovering the royal treasure. I understand now a fleet of golf carts have been pressed into service to bring people up that slope instead of elephants.

From a watch tower in Jaigarh Fort

Inside the well preserved fort

The largest moving cannon in Asia, "Jaivan" (Victory Cannon). Dennis and Mag romantically posing in front. The canon has been fired just once but is still worshipped by the Maharaja once a year -lucky cannon! transcended its 'Karma'!

Kanakbagh complex

Lost and found. Somebody lost their pet and was found by the 'chai-walah' at Kanakbagh and was happily employed as his mascot.

Birla Temple

Maharani Gayatri Devi's Moti Doongri seen from the Birla temple

Jai Palace, the Maharaja's summer palace

Hawamahal under renovation. Built in 1799 in the form of Krishna's 'mukut' or crown. The specially designed windows channel cool air in. The palace ladies could see the market scene without being seen themselves.

We spent two days in Jaipur, during which we also managed to visit an old friend of Dennis in his farm house, for dinner. Wonderful outing!

From Jaipur we drove to Udaipur via Ajmer, Beavar, Rajsamund and Nathdwara on NH 8 a distance of 405 kms.

Haldighati

The next day we drove to Haldighati only 40 km from Udaipur. On the way I saw this interesting gate preserved by somebody with taste and a sense of humour because there is no wall in sights for miles - only a gate!

The gate without a wall!

 While admiring the gate I happened to notice the Devi Garh gate which looked very familiar and then remembered seeing it in the movie 'Eklavya'. So we drove down the long driveway, the very polite security personnel having given us the directions. It is now a hotel like many of the erstwhile palaces.

Devi Garh entrance

The majestic Devi Garh Palace

Haldighati is a mountain pass in the Aravalli Range connecting the districts of Rajsamand and Pali. As kids we read about the battle of Haldighati between Maharana Pratap and Raja Man Singh, Akbar’s general in 1576. (If you wake me up at night and ask this date I will remember it!!) A wonderful poem (its meter reads like the trot of a horse!) by Shyamnarayan Pandey on Chetak, Rana Pratap’s horse brought the battle alive in every student’s mind. (Read about Maharana Pratap and Chetak)

Haldighati.Mountain pass between Rajasmand and Pali

Don't miss the word "Rajput" scratched out by some son of the soil. It still hurts!

Grave of Hakim Shah Sur who was a descendant of Sher Shah Suri but fought on behalf of Rana Pratap and was his most trusted soldier. While  Mansingh, a Rajput, was the general leading the Mughal forces.So the lines dividing armies and loyalties was quite fluid.

The Chhatries in Rakt-talai

Epitaph to Chetak, Rana Pratap's wonder horse

Maharana Pratap hid in this cave, during the 12 years he lived as a recluse. The cave and temple are taken care of by this priest who looks more like a warrior.

A monitor lizard we saw on the way. A prehistoric creature in a historic place.

Udaipur

Udaipur the city of lakes and palaces is often called “Venice of the East”. Unfortunately, I havn’t been to Venice, yet, so really can’t compare. Maharana Uday Singh of Mewar shifted his capital from Chittorgarh to Udaipur in 1559, when Akbar forcefully seized Chittor.

Udaipur was built on the banks of the Pichola Lake, an artificial fresh water lake created in 1362 AD by a ‘Banjara’ tribesman.

A natural outcome of not trusting anyone else with your new car

Beautiful fountain at the 'Sahelion ki Bari'

 'Sahelion -ki -Bari was built by Maharana Bhopal Singh for his queen who had come with 48 maids in her dowry. To keep them entertained and out of trouble he had this beautiful garden with lily ponds and elephant shaped fountains, made. The fountains were imported from England, which give an effect of rain while the maidens danced! (a scene out of Bollywood). The ponds and fountains are fed by the water from the Fateh Sagar Lake whose embankment is above the garden.

Rain making fountains

The queen and her hand maidens

'The City Palace'- actually a series of huge palaces built at different times

Chittor

After a couple of days stay in Udaipur, we drove 113 kms  to Chittorgarh on NH76. Driving through the mist in the morning we were congratulating Dennis for planning such a fabulous trip. But it was far from over! 

Driving through the mist. A typical desert phenomenon

 

Maharana Uday Singh never accepted Akbar’s supremacy and fought him all his life. After him his son Rana Pratap took up the cudgels. I am giving these stories because every bit of Rajasthan is replete with these legendary sagas. People still get emotional and feel passionately when recounting them. Our guide in Chittorgarh really made it all come so alive and I think I shed a couple of tears for the valiant and indomitable Rana Pratap (and a bucketful for his devoted horse). Chittorgarh is one of the best preserved forts I have seen in India. The trip to Chittorgarh was truly the high point of our trip. 

Mira Mandir. Mira was married to Bhoj Raj son of Rana Sanga of Chittor. Her devotion to Krishna is legendary.

Trying to be part of the glorious history! Vijay Stambh. (The guide helped bring Rajeev in front of the camera). Constructed by Rana Kumbha between 1442-1449 to commemorate his victory over Mahmud Khilji.

Rani Padmini Mahal in the middle of a lake and the window where she stood so Allauddin Khilji could see the reflection of her reflection in the water, in a mirror -wow! Our guide's explanation was quite convincing

It is said that Allauddin Khilji  invaded Chittor because he wanted Rajput King Rawal Ratan Singh's queen, Rani Padmini for his harem but on finding the fort heavily guarded, he offered to return if he could have a glimpse of the queen. It is, again, said that the queen's reflection was shown to Khilji in a mirror. For those times even this was rather dishonourable and our Rajput guide was loth to explain that actually the queen stood at the window (you can see in the picture) in a way that only her reflection could be seen in the water of the lake, which was caught on a large mirror and shown to the sultan standing on the bank this side -phew!

Site where Rani Padmini and other ladies committed 'Jauhar', a practice of self-immolation by the Rajput ladies to avoid being dishonoured by invading armies.

Cute gatekeeper! Now imagine her calling "hukum dharander; phande phoo", the hindusthani equivalent of "who comes thereunder, friend or foe".

Gomukh, a natural spring and water source for the fort

Writing on a cannon

The battlefield now so peaceful!

Queen of the Desert!

Adoreable!

Ajmer

We drove 199 kms from Chittaurgarh to Ajmer via Bhilwara on NH 79, for the last leg of our trip. Ajmer is famous for two ancient places to see – one is the 14 th century Brahma temple near the Pushkar lake and the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.

Pushkar It is said that the Char Dham pilgrimage of the Hindus (Rameshwaram, Jaggannath, Dwarka and Badrinath) cannot be deemed completed till a dip in the Pushkar Lake is taken, I guess then you would have appeased all three of the ‘Trinity’ (Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh). The lake has 52 bathing ghats and a number of temples including the famous Brahma temple. According to the ‘Padma Puraana’ Brahma may be worshipped only in Pushkar.

One and a half Km trek to the temple through this obstacle course

Pushkar Lake

Brahma Temple

Brahma Idol

Beautiful ancient Shiva idol

Ancient script on the wall of the temple?

 Last but not the least was our trip to the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. It was more like saving the best for the last.

The Dargah. The massive gate was donated by the Nizam of Hyderabad. About 125,000 people visit the Dargah everyday

Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti established the order of the Chishtis, which is a sufi order, in the sub-continent. He was born in Afghanistan and grew up in Persia. He came to India, it is said, after a dream in which Prophet Mohammad directed him to do so. He came to Ajmer along with Mohammad Ghori - God's idea of balance I guess - one enlightened messenger of peace and the other a cruel marauder.

Moinuddin Chishti's teachings are not written down but passed from disciple to disciple. He had thosands of disciples of whom Amir Khusrau and Nizamuddin Auliya are known to most people, their tomb being in South Delhi. We had also visited the tomb of Chishti Sheikh Burhanuddin in Aurangabad. Mughal emperor Akbar was a devotee of the Khwaja and made an annual trip on foot all the way from Agra, to pay his respects to the saint.

After this very fitting end to a great trip we drove back to Gurgaon via Jaipur on NH 8. The euphoria of a long and pleasant journey remains for some time. During this post Rajasthan euphoric period I made this soft pastel sketch of a typical Rajasthani scene. The blandness of the sand off-set by the bright "bandhni" 'odhnis' of the women folk.  I started the post with Parmita's painting and am taking the liberty of ending with mine.